My Sunday Photo

How Does Your Garden Grow?

To celebrate World Photography Day on Monday I decided to head out into the garden to attempt to capture some of the natural beauty (among the weeds) that lingers.

I don't have a digital camera. It was broken some time ago in a night out involving a few too many cocktails *cough* so this was taken on my iPhone...

My garden is filled with buddleia and butterflies at the moment and I was pleasantly surprised by not only the quality of my picture, especially as I'm quite a novice, but by the fact that the butterfly sat still long enough for me to take a photo of it.... even though the Mini Mes were screeching around on their scooters in the background.


How does your garden grow?



I'm linking this with...

The theme this week is World Photography Day

Silent Sunday

8 Ideas For Kids Garden Fun

It won't be long until the Mini Mes, like your children, say farewell to their teachers and break up for summer. If you are dreading the expense of day trips and holidays you can always save the pennies and have fun at home instead!

There is so much you can do at home in terms of crafts and baking and when the weather is on your side you can head out into the garden to play. We often venture into the great outdoors as a family so hopefully these free (virtually) activities that we enjoy will inspire you to pop outside too...

 

 

 Bubbles
Children are fascinated by these and have great fun blowing, chasing and popping them. If you don't have any mixture to hand you can easily create your own with washing up liquid and a splash of water in a bowl of bucket - you can even make glow in the dark versions! Try making your own wands from utensils at home to make some weird and wonderful shapes!


Pebble pictures
Make the most out of the gravel and stones by turning them into masterpieces! Rearrange them to make dragons, princesses or maybe a family portrait. If you have some paint or pens you can try our simple Rock Pet activity too.


Mud pies
With a splash of water you can soon transform your mud into messy play and whip up some worm filled wonders like cakes and pies! This is a great sensory activity - get some sticks and leaves involved too.


Wind Sock

With some black bags and imagination (or rolled card and tissue paper) your little ones can get creative and make a wind sock in no time at all - giving you time to sit back on your deck chairs for 5 minutes as they keep themselves occupied. If you don’t have any garden furniture and you need something to relax in this summer, then have a look at Internet Gardener’s rattan garden sofa page.

Creature Feeder
Making fatballs and homes for bugs is great fun and helps to teach children the importance of looking after wildlife. You can always buy one if you don't have the time, but the kids will still spend many a warm afternoon watching the insects flying in and out. Ask them to draw some pictures too!


Picnics
Just eating alfresco can be a mini adventure for little ones. We often take our food outside with a blanket, a collection of bears and a few books to enjoy some fresh air together. You can do some drawing or colouring while you are outside and even some jigsaws or games for a change of scenery.

 Hoopla

Using some kitchen roll tubes and some paper plates you can easily create a garden game of your own. Stick the tubes into the ground and cut out of the centre of the plates to use as your hoops - quick and easy and great for developing hand-eye coordination. We have also used glow sticks for a night time alternative!

 

 

Treasure Hunt
Take it in turns to hide items in the garden and make a map so others can find the missing treasure! For older children you can make cryptic clues or for added fun have a pirate themed day where you can dress up and provide a themed lunch too. 

What outdoor activities do you enjoy?

*In Association with Internet Gardener*

 

Silent Sunday

Project 366, 205/366 - Fun in the Sun

With beautiful weather the garden and park are the perfect places to spend a day relaxing and playing in the sun.

So that's what we did!

Project 366, 149/366 - Pool fun

After our previous pool decided to go pop (bye bye pretty seahorses) I picked up this bargain pool today from Argos for £11.99. Naturally with the sunshine I pumped it up and filled it ready for the kids return from school and they had great fun splashing about before dinner.

I have linked this outdoor fun with:

Project 366, 146/366 - A new friend

There is a broken fence panel and Spartan has been jumping up to have a nosey into next doors garden. He recently discovered that there is infact a lovely new poochie over there too and now whenever they are both outside they both go and say hello!